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NASCAR Winston Cup Series Dura-Lube 500 Report: #20 Walker Evans

5 November 1997

"Little Al" Brings Miller Some Phoenix Luck

	Mooresville, NC (November 3, 1997)  --   A good truck, some gambling luck, and a 
sixth grade class all contributed to bringing Butch Miller and the Walker Evans Racing 
Team their twelfth top-10 finish of the 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-to 
date.  Miller roared the #20 Orleans Hotel and Casino Chevrolet to an eight place finish 
in the GM Goodwrench/Delco Battery 300 at Phoenix International Raceway Saturday from a 
23rd place starting effort.  By the halfway point on lap 90, Miller had gained a few 
positions, and headed back on to the track in 16th after the halftime break.  Through 
the second half of the race, the crew, led by crew chief Todd Myers, made some chassis 
adjustments during their gas stop that enabled Miller to pick off the competition one by 
one, steadily move towards the front, and post his first top-10 since Martinsville- four 
races ago. 
	"The truck ran very good," said Miller.  "It was a little pushy, but we went on 
the conservative side.  The guys did a great job on the truck, and we needed to make 
that adjustment when we came in for gas.  We would have been very close if we tried to 
go all the way, but we wouldn't have been very good because we needed to adjust, so we 
gave up track position, and it worked out in a top-10 for us.  The guys really did a 
great job there."
	Phoenix was the introduction of a new mascot for the #20 Walker Evans Racing 
Team, courtesy of the Damascus, Virginia sixth grade class.  The class sent Miller and 
his wife Donna a little, stuffed, green alligator, and asked Miller to carry it with him 
when he raced.  "We call him 'Little Al', and he did a great job for us this weekend," 
said Miller.  "Little Al raced with me looking out the windshield.  He had to close his 
eyes a few times, but he came out of the race ready to go again.  Little Al will be 
traveling with us next weekend in Las Vegas.  We have a different truck for Vegas, so I 
think he'll have to be looking over my shoulder this time, but he'll still be able to 
see out the windshield- that's what he likes best. Donna used to teach fifth grade at 
that school, so they've kept up with what we were doing and decided they needed to send 
Little Al to watch over us and help us do well."  
	"Our sponsor, the Orleans Hotel and Casino, brought us some luck, too.  We're 
staying at that hotel, of course, and my wife Donna went gambling in the casino and won 
10,000 nickels! It's not a lot of money, but it sure sounds pretty good! The Orleans is 
a gorgeous place, and the owners actually have three hotels- the Orleans, the Gold 
Coast, and the Barbary Coast, so if race fans are going to Las Vegas and want to support 
the NASCAR team sponsors, those hotels would be the places to stay!"  For more 
information, please call Walker Evans Enterprises in Riverside, California at (909) 
784-7223, or the Orleans Hotel & Casino at 1-800-ORLEANS.

	 Walker Evans Racing to Field Second Truck for Vegas

	Mooresville, NC (November 3, 1997)  --   Brendan Gaughan, son of Las Vegas hotel 
magnate Michael Gaughan, will drive the #21 Orleans Hotel & Casino Chevrolet in the 
CARQUEST 420k at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season 
finale.  Walker Evans Enterprises is fielding the truck for Gaughan, and Gaughan will 
run as teammate to NASCAR veteran Butch Miller, driving the #20 Orleans Hotel & Casino 
Chevrolet.  Brendan Gaughan has been racing off-road trucks for Walker Evans Enterprises 
for several years, winning five off-road championships and well over thirty races.  
Gaughan won his first race entered, at only fifteen years of age, and had to be driven 
to and from the race track because he didn't have a driver's license.  The CARQUEST 420k 
will be Gaughan's first attempt in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series, and a 
NASCAR-sanctioned race, period.
	"I'm probably more excited about Brendan's first Truck series race than he is," 
said Evans.  "I've known Brendan since he was born, and his father and I have had a very 
long friendship.  He probably has more laps on the Las Vegas track than anyone- it's his 
home track, and all his friends, relatives, and girlfriends will be watching.  Brendan's 
biggest challenge will be traffic, but he's tested there with some of the regular Truck 
series guys, and we've got some very experienced people to help out. In addition, 
Brendan teaches at the racing school based at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so he knows the 
track inside and out. Brendan will do very well this weekenI."
	"I ran about 25 laps with Brendan in testing," said Butch Miller, driver of the 
#20 Orleans Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, "and he's got a terrific head on his shoulders.  
Brendan is going to be a great racer." 
	In addition to the sponsorship support of both race teams this weekend, the #20 
and the #21, fielded by Walker Evans Enterprises, the Orleans Hotel & Casino has 
provided the race teams with race shop facilities to prepare the trucks for the 
weekend's events.  How many teams can boast that kind of sponsor support!  "Michael 
Gaughan, owner of the Orleans Hotel & Casino, the Gold Coast, and the Barbary Coast, has 
had this shop for some of Brendan's off-road racing, and for Michael's pre-runner trucks 
for the Baja races," said Evans.  "He also uses the shop for his hotel shuttle buses, so 
it's great to have facilities here.  Our west coast shop is in Riverside, California, 
and i field all of Brendan's off-road SODA trucks out of there.  It's a funny story how 
I met Michael Gaughan over 25 years ago, pre-running a truck for the Baja 1000, but our 
friendship has endured all that time, and I can't thank him enough for his support." 
Walker Evans is the winningest drive in the BAJA 1000, earning nine wins in the rough, 
rugged terrain of the Baja Peninsula.
	The stage is set, and the battle of the 'gators is on- the Orleans Hotel & 
Casino 'gators, that is.  Sunday, November 9th will feature Butch Miller in the green 
#20 Orleans truck, and rookie Brendan Gaughan in the white #21 Orleans truck.  For more 
information, please call the Orleans Hotel & Casino at 1-800-ORLEANS, because that's 
where everyone is staying!